In this case it seems to be saying "you can't bring a vehicle through here except in an emergency" if I've read the road correctly.

The railings are in fact a gate but it has probably been padlocked. It is at the very end of Heathfield Park Drive and divides that road from Haywards Close.

If you live in Heathfield Park Drive the quickest way to walk the shop on the corner of South Road is to climb over the railings if the gate cannot be opened.

Now, there is a chance that since the devlopers put a gate in there rather than build a wall, there is in fact some legal right of way, but a researcher would have to go back to the development plans to find out whether that is so.

If so, what is the nature of the right of way? It could be that they have to let foot-traffic through. There could be separate law applying to those few feet of land. It joins the adopted roads but it might itself be somebody's private land.

If you are going to climb those railings, take a nice stout piece of carpet and throw it over the spikes first.

Assuming the location is correct, it comes down to this: is there a right of way which somebody has tried to extinguish by locking the gate, or is the gate a poorly-defined boundary to private drive-ways?

While this was doubtless an upsetting experience all round, I can't help noticing that a large proportion of cases of this kind involve former teenage mothers (the average age for a first-time mother in the UK is now 29). Thanks to the DM's habit of giving the ages of all concerned, it appears this is no exception.

As nature documentaries clearly demonstrate, young mammals in the wild (does that include Ilford?) are at much greater risk of harm if their mothers are relatively young and inexperienced and cannot pass on the benefit of accumulated knowledge about avoiding danger.

I live by this gate and witnessed the boy being cut off. Didn't see the actual accident. Nearly ayear later, the gate is still there and locked. It was left unlocked for a short period but resulted in groups of 20+ teenagers marching through from Haywards Close to Heathfield Park Drive which was very unnerving for residents. Ultimately, the boy made a silly mistake but for the mum to demand the gate open is absurd. Perhaps she should be thankful it wasn't worse and watch her child.